This Collaboration Between Skatebård, Philipp Lauer & Dj Sotofett Dives Deep Into Flux Borders Of Italo, New Beat And The Melodic Sides Of Industrial. A-side Is Contoured By A Synthetic Bassline Riff On Trigged Drums & Percussions For A Full Club Version. B-side's Two Tracks Are Both Differently Bass Driven, One With Live Piano Solo And The Other With Airy Whistles. All Tracks Cleverly Composed With A Richness Of Melody, Rhythm & Engaging Arrangements.
Emerging from the shadows of a small apartment in Chicago’s South Side Pilsen neighborhood in 1999, Winterlight was produced and mixed by Daniel Thompson over the course of three years, from 1999 to 2002. It’s an intimate and evocative album that captures a pivotal chapter in Thompson’s life and echoes the spirit of a formative era in the underground music scene.
Thompson’s journey began in the heat of Houston, Texas, where his love for sound quickly became an obsession. By the late ’90s, he was among the first DJs in Houston to champion the sound of Chicago house, often driving long distances from Texas to Chicago in search of records, inspiration, and connection. These trips—equal parts pilgrimage and education—eventually led him to relocate to Chicago, where his artistic vision would fully take shape. Winterlight is the direct result of that move. Crafted over several years, the album embodies a raw, hands-on approach to production, built from analog synths, outboard gear, and hours of meticulous layering. Thompson leaned on tools like the Kurzweil K2000, SE-1, Juno-106, and classic processors such as the DP4 and TC Electronic units, shaping each track with
care and intention.
Blending atmospheric textures with hypnotic rhythm and subtle experimental flourishes, Winterlight captures the sound of an artist deeply engaged with his tools and surroundings. His extensive vinyl collection—over 3,000 records—served as both palette and inspiration, with carefully chosen samples lending further depth and narrative to the music. Now set for release across all digital platforms and as a limited double 12" vinyl edition through Berlin’s Word & Sound, Winterlight invites listeners into a soundscape that is both immersive and personal. More than just an album, it is a sonic document of a moment in time—rich in tone, memory, and intent. For those willing to listen deeply, Winterlight offers a rare window into the underground spirit of the early 2000s and the inner world of a producer finding his voice.
Ben Pest and ARA-U unite for the next release on No Static / Automatic. Kaos Sympatic EP started life with the pair recording jams of various vintage studio kit, including an EMS VCS3, Roland VP330 and an Orgon Systems prototype known only as the “Silver Box”, which developed into full tracks over subsequent sessions. Ben Pest has been busy releasing high grade club tracks including collabs with Radioactive Man and Kursa for Asking For Trouble and Love Love Records last year, and with solo EPs dropping on Cultivated Electronics and Posh End music. Here he links with NS/A boss ARA-U, turning out some of their headiest material to date.
The EP kicks off with ‘Err Hello’, it’s wholly discordant, lairy, and unapologetically weird. ‘‘Get A Grip’ drifts in with hallucinatory wafts of sound over a warped riff, building into a granular, distorted headfuck of a hoover-bass moment. This one will make the subs rattle on the right side of distortion. On the B Side title track ‘Kaos Sympatic’ gets stuck in with a big broken beat and guttural sub that transforms into a techno drop to drive this track home. Finishing up, ‘Slapback’ serves up a cut of high energy electro funk, coming off like classic ERP on heat. Limited edition purple vinyl.
After the dissolution of his band, The Cardinals, in 2009 and some much-needed R&R, Ryan Adams returned in style in 2011 with his 13th studio album. Ashes & Fire, produced by Glyn Johns and preceded by one of Adams’ most popular singles, ‘Lucky Now’, entered the UK chart at number nine (his best showing) and in the US at number seven. It features significant contributions from Norah Jones (piano and backing vocals) and Benmont Tench of Tom Petty ‘s Heartbreakers (keyboards) and is widely regarded as one of the artist’s best and most consistent efforts. Indeed, here in the UK BBC Music described it as, "an album that delivers more and more with every listen,” while NME called it, “an album worth celebrating now”; an assessment that still applies 14 years on.
Yet another solid Soul/Funk nugget lifted from the vaults of Miami's CAT Records (Another T.K. Disco subsidiary).
Often sampled, re-edited & re-jigged but never bettered! Gwen McCrae's all time classic "All This Love I'm Giving" finally see's a timely repress, just as God intended, on a dinked 45 with all original artwork intact! That's right, you may recognize this number from Cassius' 1999 hit "Feelin' For You" but this track has long been a staple of rare groove dances & sophisticated soul parties with discerning DJ's & selectors clamoring for the original 45 at any cost.
Backed here with it's original b-side slow jam "Maybe I'll Find Somebody New" this rare 45 has been re-mastered, re-pressed & brought back for 2015's dance-floors in conjunction & with the permission of T.K. Disco / Henry Stone Music, Miami USA.
Tony Lavrutz & Scruscru join forces for this latest fiery 45 rpm on Scruniversal. First up, they also call on Mr. And-7 to get involved on 'La Malanga 25', a sunny funk jam with raw horns that bring a Mexican twist to the percussive drums and lively pianos. Marelua steps up for the flip side, 'Paragunde 45', which slows things down and burns warm and bright with Portuguese vocals and plenty of gorgeous acoustic guitar trills. Both of these are primed and ready to inject Latin flavour into any set the moment the sun comes out, so are likely to fly off the shelves.
World Of Echo announces the reissue of two remastered albums by Japanese guitarist and songwriter Naoki Zushi, 1988’s Paradise, and 2005’s III. Two classics of Japanese psychedelia, both Paradise and III were originally released on Org Records, the imprint of Shinji Shibayama of acid-folk group Nagisa Ni Te, with whom Zushi has guested on second guitar for decades. Both intimate and expansive, rich with revelatory songwriting and blasted, sky-scouring guitar, these reissues return these albums to print for the first time since the 2000s. It’s the first time III has been officially released on vinyl, with an extra, previously unreleased track, “Under The June Moonlight.”
Recorded in Kyoto’s Townhouse Studios in mid 1987 and released in limited-to-500 vinyl pressing in 1988, Paradise emerged from a scene in Kansai, Japan that was embracing the idiosyncracies of 1970s singer-songwriters, the soaring solos of early seventies psychedelia, and the DIY impulse of 1980s post-punk. While Zushi’s musical history stretched back to the early eighties – he was a founding member of Jojo Hiroshige’s noise outfit Hijokaidan – he found his feet with groups like Hallelujahs, whose dream-pop collection Niku O Kuraite Chikai Wo Tateyo was recently reissued by Black Editions, and Idiot O’Clock.
Paradise appeared two years after that Hallelujahs album and share much the same membership – Zushi’s backing band on several of the songs includes Shibayama on drums and Ken-Ichi Takayama (aka Idiot) on electric guitar, though just as often, Zushi plays all the instruments himself. The coordinates here are wide-reaching – you can hear the volume and intensity of Neil Young & Crazy Horse (on “Hallelujah: Left Side” and “Paradise: Midday”), the slow-motion magic of Galaxie 500, the idiosyncratic spirit of The Only Ones, all mixed up with tender guitar miniatures and stumbling garage-psych-pop moves.
Seven years later, after the transitional album Phenomenal Luciferin, Zushi released III. Perhaps his masterpiece, it’s already been bootlegged on vinyl, but this reissue is the real deal. The album was recorded at Studio Nemu over seven years, and sees Zushi backed by Shibayama (bass) and Masako Takeda (drums), his erstwhile bandmates in Nagisa Ni Te. By this stage, Zushi had started to really stretch out, and many of the songs on III swoon languorously, taking their sweet time to say what they need to say. It’s rich with lovely, melancholy songs, in a similar realm to bandmates Nagisa Ni Te, of course, but you can also hear traces of everything from Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs, through seventies private press loner folk, to the slow-burn meanderings of the likes of early Low or Damon & Naomi.
When interviewed by Shibayama in the mid-nineties, Zushi said of Paradise, “it was a sort of collection of songs that had meant something to me up to that point… it was my paradise. I wanted to create paradise.” That’s something Zushi achieves on both of these albums – visionary Japanese psychedelia, en route to paradise. - Jon Dale
g Under The June Moonlight vinyl only bonus track
“'Lyceum' is a fountainhead of unqualified greatness. It’s a strange, sad sound harking back to old school tunesmanship – Aztec Camera, ‘Rattlesnakes’, prime-time Felt – but the whole affair is permeated with a resonant, almost tearful quality. ‘Lyceum’ is reminiscent of Galaxie 500’s ‘Today’ in that it sounds like it cost less than a round of drinks to produce. But the lo fi sound merely enhances the misty glazed-pop sound and raises the hallelujah choruses to the forefront. Rather than drowning them in production mush. Don’t pass it by”.
– Bob Stanley, Melody Maker 1989
Hailing from the suburbs of Glasgow, this five-piece are best known for their three starry-eyed albums on the renowned Sarah Records - this being an expanded version of their first (an eight-track 10” at the time).
By the tail end of the 1980s the independent music scene in the UK was turning its back on the polish and over-indulgence of the mid-80s with its gated drums and wallpaper production. And those who weren’t stretching the boundaries of sonic innovation had tuned back to the post-punk ethos of ramshackle charm and zealous melody, even dousing the spirit with some political fervour once more. Influences were more likely to be Television and the Television Personalities than MTV.
The Orchids and The Sea Urchins were the first two bands to release 7” singles on the Sarah label having previously begun their recording existence on a shared flexi disc in 1987 (The Sea Urchins went on to become Delta, whose classic album ‘Slippin' Out’ from 2000 will be the second release on Circuitry). The Scottish five-piece released ‘I’ve Got a Habit’ and ‘Underneath the Window, Underneath the Sink’ as EPs before really finding their feet with ‘Lyceum’; the tracks, remastered from the original Toad Hall tapes are included on this reissue as are the three songs from the ‘What Will We Do Next?’ 7” (this collection closes with the frazzled stretch that is ‘Yawn’). 'Lyceum' was originally released in August 1989.
The album opens with ‘It’s Only Obvious’ and its gloriously youthful chorus of “who needs tomorrow when all I need, all I needed was you”. James Hackett somehow appears both forthright and rejected, something that one of their musical heroes The Go-Betweens also had down to a fine art. It barely takes a breath until midway through side two where ‘Hold On’ (sounding suspiciously like an unlikely objective) descends into the intro of ‘Blue Light’, the counted-in ‘1, 2, 3, 4’ whispered like the most hopelessly dejected rally. If that sounds depressing it isn’t. This record by The Orchids was a spirited source of comfort for an 18 year old at the time and still shudders with the best type of melancholy, one that’s spirited not indulgent. If you’re not familiar with the band’s charm, this is where you should begin.
'Lyceum' is released on double black vinyl by new label Circuitry.
20,000 fans were there for The Beatles’ first appearance in Canada at the open-air Empire Stadium, Vancouver. The boys’ set lasted just under half an hour and they forgot to play ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’. The show was broadcast live by local radio station CKWX and the engineer only got the balance right on the fourth song, the vocals on the previous songs had too much distortion. It almost didn’t happen as the airline pilot didn’t have the correct paperwork for entering Canada, and the group only got to the venue at 9.15pm. The fans loved it but the critics were less impressed. “Seldom in Vancouver’s entertainment history have so many paid so much for so little” said Jack Wasserman, covering for Owl Prowl radio show.
Nach über einem Jahrzehnt psychedelischer Odysseen, Kultstatus und internationaler Tourneen kehrt Dresdens beliebtes Psych?Kollektiv The Roaring 420s mit "We're All In It Together" zurück - dem lang erwarteten dritten Album und zugleich triumphalen Abschiedswerk der Band in ihrer ursprünglichen Besetzung. Die Songs glänzen mit 60s-Gitarren, wirbelnden Orgeln, Reverse?Fuzzes und strahlenden Gesangsharmonien. Ob man es nun Garagenrock, Surf, Psych oder Exotica nennt - eines ist klar: Diese Fahrt wird wild. Und wir sind alle dabei.
In South London members Alan Lancaster (bass) and Francis Rossi (guitar) were the original members and founders of Status Quo. _x000d__x000a_Formerly known as The Spectres and later renamed to Traffic or Traffic Jam they settled for Status Quo as their band name in 1967. _x000d__x000a_The following years they were joined by John Coghlan (drums), Roy Lynes (keyboard) and Rick Parfitt (guitar)._x000d__x000a_Status Quo’s first hit record "Pictures of Matchstick Men" was released in 1968 .The single reached #7 in the UK, and remains the band's only major hit single in the US, where it reached #12. Their debut Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo soon followed. It features several covers, including "Green Tambourine" by The Lemon Pipers and "Spicks and Specks” by The Bee Gees. _x000d__x000a_Another highlight from the album is their second single, "Ice in the Sun." Even if this is not the most representative album from Status Quo, it is a good psychedelic pop exercise ._x000d__x000a__x000d__x000a_Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo is now available as a numbered limited edition of 1000 copies on turquoise coloured vinyl_x0009_
Originally out as a free Net-7inch on Jahtari in 2008 to pay respects at the shrine of arcade machine fighting games, these undying hiphop-infused martial arts Dubs by disrupt are finally reaching their intended destination: white blood-splattered 7inch vinyl (attention: not actual blood!).
"Samurai Showdown" (which eventually became Solo Banton's classic "Kung Fu Master", from his Music Addict EP in 2010) is taking place at sunrise, of course, when two master swordsmen are matching blades in a battle to the death. Can the wave-cutting technique of the Jahtari-school prevail?
The B-side is the meditation after the battle, mentally re-creating the epic struggle move by move and in slow motion...
So draw your Katana and prepare for beats as sharp as a battle sword, deadly moves of Ninja swiftness and basslines coming straight from the six paths of hell.
Why the Eye is an experimental masked quartet from Brussels that propels bodies into trance during its live performances. All instruments are DIY and played in real time, without loops or sequencers. Fans of The Residents, Société Étrange, Autechre, Boards Of Canada, The Meridian Brothers and Fulu Miziki could easily relate to their sound. On the recording of 'Inspirex', Damien Magnette who produced the album says, "The album is live music based on energy. It has a chaotic side. How do you convey the chaotic, wild, animal energy of live music on record? My point of view is that to achieve this energy, you have to do exactly the opposite in the studio. A lot of layering. Lots of overdubs that we can't do live. It's all these elements that give the album its wildness."
Second part of second album! Originating from Normandy, France, psychedelic noise-pop quartet You Said Strange presents a unique blend of indie rock that incorporates elements of psych pop-rock, shoegaze, and proto-grunge. Thousand Shadows volume 2, a second chapter was needed to highlight the many shadows that still linger everywhere. The shadows that linger on the borders, hiding the violence of the fights for them. The shadows that time has on the relationships and their persistence, because the shadows move. Plato's cave, modern version, would be the one of toxic relationships, antidepressants and the acceptance of the regression of freedom and/or the vision of a dying world... Between shoegaze, noise pop and psychedelic rock, You Said Strange absorbs its time to incant a music in which melancholy, love and the search for plenitude meet. The band recorded their first album, Salvation Prayer, in 2018 in Portland (USA), with Peter G. Holmstrom from The Dandy Warhols, which saw release via Fuzz Club Recirds. In 2022, the band shared their LP Thousand Shadows Vol. 1. Mythomaniac kings, the Mediterranean, the colors of mourning _ these are the detailed subjects, described against a backdrop of psychedelic pop, proto grunge, and shoegaze. The first part of a powerful, reverberant, melodious second album, drawing its inspiration and production stem from encounters during their 2022 European and North American tours, between Normandy, New York, and Oregon. Most recently, You Said Strange shared the second part of their sophomore release, a follow-up to Vol. 1 entitled Thousand Shadows Vol. 2.
To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Camper Van Beethoven"s groundbreaking debut "Telephone Free Landslide Victory", the CD album is being reissued in a deluxe edition featuring a previously unreleased 11 track demo recorded in 1983 plus B-sides and rarities. It also includes a 16-page booklet and sleevenotes from Victor Krummenacher. The LP is being reissued on dark green vinyl, with an alternative dark green cover to match. Featuring the cult classic "Take the Skinheads Bowling", the album showcases Camper Van Beethoven"s unique blend of folk, punk, ska, and absurdist wit. Beloved for its playful, offbeat charm and eclectic instrumentation, "Telephone Free Landslide Victory" cemented the band"s status as pioneers of alternative music.
Marja Ahti is a Swedish artist living in Turku, Finland. She works with found sounds, objects and electronics, creating auditory assemblages that reveal a profound sensitivity to sound’s tactile potential. This new record sees her palette expand to include more recognisable acoustic instrumentation, albeit working in collaboration with musicians who are already reconfiguring how those instruments can sound.
Touch This Fragrant Surface of Earth has its roots in a tape piece presented at Lampo in Chicago. Ahti then started working with Isak Hedtjärn (clarinet), Ryan Packard (percussion) and My Hellgren (cello) at the electronic music studios (EMS) in Stockholm. Incorporating recordings from those sessions, Ahti presented a new iteration of the work at the Seventh Edition Festival for Other Music in February 2024 with the trio performing live on stage whilst Ahti helmed the mixing desk, spatialising a specially made tape part through the INA GRM’s Acousmonium speaker orchestra. The piece has since gone through several further iterations before arriving at the version we have here on the LP's B-side where immense bass pressure and high frequency tones buffer restless amplified breath and scrape that folds over itself with extraordinary dynamics and subterranean activity before giving way to gorgeous resonant forms and passages of ritual purpose and sheer, unmistakeable beauty.
The A-side is Touch This Fragrant Surface of Earth’s gentle double. Still Life with Poppies, Mirror and Two Clouds offers a companion reconfiguration of Ahti’s resynthesised percussion sustain and the same recordings of Hedtjärn and Hellgren from EMS, but here they’re nestled in a sonic landscape of calm and restraint that gives them a wholly other character. Ahti also draws on older recordings she’d made of Sholto Dobie’s diy pipe organs and uses these to create repeating patterns and flourishes of sliding pitches that emerge unexpected out of cycling passages of Ahti’s clear struck metal, destabilising electronic interventions and minimal piano figures.
Marja Ahti: “I’ve been fascinated with the kind of elemental quality the sounds I'm using have such as airy sounds or earthy, wooden sounds. These qualities can also be found in wind instruments and percussion and the musicians I worked with on Touch This Fragrant Surface of Earth are really good at enhancing these qualities in their playing. I wanted to have this connection between found sounds, field recordings, or pre-recorded sounds, objects, and material, and see where these sounds might meet each other, and hopefully blend is a natural way without a divide between instrumental music, or acoustic music, or electronic music. But also, when you bring in people they come with their personalities and their ideas which is also energizing and brings surprising things into the collaboration that I couldn't come up with myself. I was really interested in making this a proper collaboration and not just coming up with the piece and giving it to them. We had the sessions at EMS where we could share ideas and Isak, Ryan and My could bring in their own ideas. Making recordings there gave me time to process these ideas and to also approach them in the same way that I would work with any other sound.”
